XVI International Botanical Congess

A significant portion of the life history of Botrychium, the gametophyte and juvenile sporophytes stages, are spent underground. Experiments were conducted to determine the distribution and abundance of underground structures of five species of Botrychium. Soil samples were collected in a 200 m2 area, sieved through a series of soil sieves and then processed using a centrifugation technique separating out the lighter plant material. Species differed in underground abundance. B. campestre and B. gallicomontanum both produce vegetative propagule (gemmae) but there was no apparent correlation with this character and abundance underground. The gametophytes of B. mormo and B. montanum were extremely abundant and appear to behave differently, than other species. Given the widespread occurrence of B. virginianum aboveground, the underground abundance was relatively sparse and was similar to the underground abundance of rarer species.